SA's knockout phobia, Kohli's love for chases

Fatigue no excuse for sloppy Australia (88)

Australia's early exit from the World T20 could be put down to sloppy cricket on the field from a squad that looked old, unbalanced and ill-suited to the challenges of Bangladesh

Why Pakistan must change to fit Akmal (79)

They have long mistaken his fearlessness for irresponsibility and clipped his wings. But he can't be denied for long

Sobers supreme (59)

Sixty years ago today, a 17-year-old Bajan cricketer made his debut for West Indies, and went on to touch with his genius all those who saw him play for the next two decades

Why do we over-react when changing cricket's rules? (58)

Instead of helping umpires react instinctively to situations, we have burdened them with misleading technology that has turned them into second-class citizens

Time for Bangladesh to pay their faithful back (50)

Bangladesh's fans' love seems unconditional. Despair is always quickly shelved to give their 'Tigers' all support their can muster. The question is, can the team show they deserve that adoring public?

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'My best T20 innings' - Kohli

Match Point: Kohli, a smart thinker

Virat Kohli has rated his matchwinning, unbeaten 72 against South Africa in the World T20 semi-final as his best T20 innings considering the importance of the match. While Kohli said the Indian dressing room was calm at the innings break, he added that there was pressure during the chase, but he did not want to let South Africa know that.

"Depending on the importance of the match, yes, you can say it is my best T20 innings," Kohli said. "But I have struck the ball better in T20s in other games. I have also timed the ball better than I did today and have managed to score five or six boundaries very fast. Today it was difficult as I had to work hard for the knock. But as per the importance of the game, this knock tops it.

"I wanted to play an important knock when the team had entered the semis. I was in good form, so I though it is better that I stay till the end. In T20, it is very important that a batsman stays till the end. It's not like there was no pressure. It wasn't easy. Pressure was there. But it is important that you don't show it to the opponents. They are a world-class attack and the slightest mistake against them can cost you. I just wanted to stay calm and was keen to back myself."

Kohli's reputation as a reliable chaser continues to grow. When asked how he adapted while batting second in T20s compared to one-dayers, Kohli said his calculations became quicker, and also credited the start given by Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane in this match. "It's all about analyzing how many runs have been scored before I walk in to bat and what rate we are going at. Today we got off to a flying start, we were going at 10 runs an over in the first three. It gave me time to settle myself in. If we were six runs an over, I could have gone for my strokes and I probably could have got out. People don't realise the importance of those small starts but I think the way Rohit and Ajinkya batted initially, it set the platform perfectly for us, it put the pressure right back on South Africa and it allowed me to play myself in and stick to my plans.

"It's very difficult to break it down in a T20 game because as I said, rush of blood, plus it is a shorter format. Those calculations come down, they become smaller, become quicker. You need to think really quick, when to score, when to defend. I think it is all about how many their main bowlers have bowled or how many overs the part-timers are going to bowl, how many runs you need to score off the part-timers and the main bowlers. It's all about when I walk in to bat, I look at the score board, what the situation is like and talk to my partner, what we can do from there on."

Kohli scored 40 of his 72 runs in singles and twos, and had only three dots. He went as far as saying that a single was as important as a six in this format. "That's something I always believe. I was on 20 not out off 17 balls (17 off 16 actually) without hitting a boundary. If you can do that and the opposition knows if I can get two boundaries in between, my strike rate goes up to 150, around that. It is very important to keep rotating the strike which, in a rush of blood, you always keep looking for boundaries. But as long as you keep rotating the strike and not lose wickets at the same time, the opposition captain has to think about a lot of things after that because if you can place the ball for two runs thrice in an over and the sixth ball goes for a boundary, it is a brilliant over for you. So I think it's very important to know the importance of singles and doubles in T20 cricket as well."

South Africa held back Dale Steyn for the death but India were able to take 22 off his second and third overs. Kohli said it was crucial to put pressure on the leader of the attack.

"Against a quality bowling attack, you need to be on top. It's important to put pressure on a world-class bowler like Dale. That's why the key is to score off the other bowlers so that he doesn't have too many runs to defend. That's why if you take six or seven runs off him, when he comes to pick wickets, it's more frustrating for the opposition. The plan was to not give him wickets. I think we ended up scoring 11 an over off him and that wasn't the plan at all. Once you start frustrating the opposition and not allow them to stick to their plans, the game starts falling in your way and that's what we decided to do."

MS Dhoni played out a dot ball in the penultimate over to allow Kohli the chance to hit the winning runs. Kohli was thankful to the captain for the opportunity. "Yes, he gave me a chance. I had told him 'aap khatam karo, lekin unhone bola is match mein main tujhe aur kuch nahin de sakta. Tuney acchi batting kari hai, to ye mera gift hai tere liye' (I told him, you finish it. But he said, I cannot give you anything else in this game. You have batted well, so this is my gift for you).

"I said 'that's very kind of you' and I accepted it. Hitting the winning runs is a wonderful feeling and I am grateful to him for allowing me the opportunity to hit them."

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Trail goes cold for South Africa

Their failure at this stage was no mystery. South Africa haven't won a knockout game at a global tournament since 1998, perhaps the only puzzle was that they got so close

South Africa have stuck doggedly to the scent throughout this World T20, like a hard-bitten gumshoe detective chasing up leads, scribbling down notes and piecing together clues. But this was a case too far for them. The trail went cold as Virat Kohli waltzed off through a crowded street scene with a twinkle in his eye, while Faf du Plessis and his men scoured the area to no avail. Catch me if you can.

They nearly solved the biggest mystery of all, their knack for being knocked out. This was a courageous attempt in unfamiliar conditions against a team that has yet to be really ruffled and a batsman in his pomp. India pulled off the highest successful run chase against South Africa in T20. Du Plessis' side had prevailed by single-run margins in their three previous games but they couldn't beat out a confession this time.

Unlike the South Africa teams of caricature, this was not a well-oiled machine that conked out on the first incline. Their issues were manifold and much discussed. Hashim Amla's proficiency as a T20 opener; AB de Villiers' best batting position; the purpose of Albie Morkel. Should Aaron Phangiso have got a game on the slowest wicket the team encountered? Which left-arm seamer would you give your right arm for?

The files of evidence were piling up for du Plessis, who like any good cop had problems of his own. Unfit for South Africa's opening game, he was suspended for overseeing a slow over rate in the next two. In the semi-final, he took a slug from his hip flask and batted with a streetwise aggression, dragging the innings through the first ten overs by its lapels and setting it up for further interrogation by his partner, de Villiers.

But they needed all the pieces of the jigsaw to fit together. De Villiers had pushed England out of the competition with a Catherine wheel 69 off 28 balls in his last innings but here he managed to hit a half-tracker to a man on the boundary. He walked off cursing. The stats, du Plessis has never tired of reiterating, say de Villiers performs best when he comes in after the tenth over. He arrived at 13.6 and departed at 15.3. You can't defenestrate India in that small a window.

JP Duminy, who came in at No. 4, finished unbeaten with 45 from 40. "Could AB have batted quicker than that?" wondered du Plessis afterwards, rhetorically. Plenty were ready to offer an answer. Duminy has batted everywhere from No. 3 to No. 6 at this tournament but his consistency helped South Africa through their group and 172 at least gave them something to bowl at - even if being only four down suggested some fuel remained in the tank.

	With Steyn searching for wickets, India were able to steal boundaries. That meant they could be more circumspect against South Africa's one genuine slow-bowling threat, Imran Tahir.

Morkel was due to be the next man in, though a record of 33 runs from four previous innings did not promise much. At least he didn't bowl any wides in his two unremarkable overs. Dale Steyn, whose body could not on this occasion match his unbendable will, began with an errant delivery down the leg side - the first of nine conceded by five different bowlers - as South Africa's line of questioning wavered.

"If you're looking to win a World Cup it's really important that you do the small things and the basics well and that's definitely one of the things tonight that put us on the back foot," du Plessis said. "Nine extra balls, not just the extra runs but you have to consider the amount of runs that they score from that extra ball. So you're probably looking at a 15-20-run swing just by bowling nine wides.

"If you want to win close games, beat quality opposition like India, you've got to make sure you do those one percenters really well. When the pressure is really high, you can almost afford five wides but as soon as it goes to the nine-ten mark you're under pressure from the word go."

With Steyn searching for wickets, India were able to steal boundaries: Rohit Sharma's flat six and Yuvraj Singh's punch down the ground ruined otherwise tight overs. That meant they could be more circumspect against South Africa's one genuine slow-bowling threat, Imran Tahir.

"I think Imran bowled well, his figures were good," du Plessis said. "But obviously from a tactics point of view they made sure not to give him too many wickets because when he does get wickets his tail is up. It's hard to expect Dale every time to be a match-winner for us, he's also human. He's going to have days when he's not just cleaning guys up. Dale bowled well but the batsmen were up to the task and they played him very well. You have to give credit to them. Dale and Imran are our danger men, and India's batsmen handled them very well."

The hunch that Duminy's offspin might pick a lock or two was another curiosity. Du Plessis cited his ability to turn the ball away from India's left-handers but of his three overs, all but three deliveries were faced by right-handers (for the record, one those three did nearly pin Yuvraj lbw). Duminy opened the bowling because South Africa "felt there was a bit of grip"; Rohit and Ajinka Rahane took 14 off the over and India were away.

They were as good as home following the 17th, bowled by Wayne Parnell, as three boundaries leaked off the edges of Suresh Raina's bat. Parnell had replaced Steyn, to allow the latter to bowl the 18th and 20th overs. "If Steyn bowled the 17th and Parnell the 18th, you would have asked me the same question," du Plessis grimaced. The observations will remain on file but South Africa have been taken off the investigation.

Their failure at this stage was no mystery. South Africa haven't won a knockout game at a global tournament since 1998 (when they won the ICC Knockout Trophy, ironically). Perhaps the only puzzle was that they got so close.

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Kohli sharpened under pressure

Pressure is supposed to be an impediment to executing your skills. It hacks away and blunts it. Not for Virat Kohli

Why is it nearly always him? Why is it he is who is nearly always standing out there at the end of a victorious chase? There are others in this story, of course. There always are others. There is always a supporting cast. There is space even in this format for an opening dash. Likewise, there is also space for a closing sprint. But why is it he who nearly always runs and wins the marathon, for which there is a space even in the shortest format. Why does a high-pressure chase in a world tournament semi-final appear like an algorithm being executed at Virat Kohli's command?

He goes at a strike-rate of 163.63 and still, scores comfortably more than half his runs in singles and twos. He says a single is as important as a six in a format where run a ball is universally considered slow. A format in which the defending champions think only sixes matter. He does not hit his first till his 17th delivery, but that does not stop him from already logging more than run a ball by then. Notice the timing of that six. It comes immediately after a partnership has ended, and the opposition is looking to tighten things. But it does not come against the specialist bowler. He does it against the part-timer.

The closing sprinter does his job in the matter of an over. But the marathon is still going on. The opposition's best bowler will bowl two of the last three overs. Now there is no question of picking bowlers like it was earlier. So the best fast bowler in the world is taken for two fours in an over. Flicked over midwicket. Charged at and carved over point.

Skill. High-quality skill. Skill that nearly always comes good under pressure, when it is dearly needed to. Pressure is supposed to be an impediment to executing your skill. It is an impediment for most. It hacks away at your skill, blunts it, even though it has been honed over years and years and seems as natural as eating.

This format can blunt your skills even further with its everything-or-nothing, ultra-condensed nature. Look at what happened to Pakistan and West Indies, powerful, explosive sides both. They had to chase big runs or the tournament was over for them. They just bottled up. Forget going down swinging, they could not even summon themselves to make a decent attempt. The pressure had blunted them so much.

Here we have a man who does the very opposite. Pressure sharpens his skills. It gives him an extreme, eerie clarity of mind. He talks lucidly about continuing to pick up singles and twos to avoid that "rush of blood", that screaming instinct which will implore you to hit a boundary every time you play a couple of dot balls in T20. So what does he do? He just cuts off the dot balls completely.

Kohli faced 44 deliveries, of which three were dots. The first one was the first delivery he faced, a 145 kph lifter that nearly every batsman hopeful of batting for any length of time would play out safely. The second one, his 25th, was a superb slow bouncer which he tried to get away, but only managed an inside edge. The third, his 39th, was a quick outswinger that he tried to drive, but was beaten.

	India have chased four times this World T20. Three times Kohli has been there when the winning runs were hit with scores of 36*, 57* and 72*.

Astonishing as just three dots in a 44-ball innings are, at least two of them were not intentional from Kohli, and the one that was intentional was also quite a wise choice. So barring that first ball, at no point during his knock was Kohli's intent to not score runs.

And just like his skills are sharpened under pressure, so is his intent. We do not need to peer into the make-up of his innings to know that. This intent business is always overpowering, in-your-face coming from Kohli, although he might want to temper a few manifestations of it when he becomes the captain. Kicking a ball in anger because a team-mate misfields. Waving his bat in frustration if his batting partner, a quite senior one at that, turns down a second run. Pumping his fist when he hits a boundary, especially the ones that appear to come at exactly the moment a big shot is required. Celebrating with raw passion after he has tamed another chase.

India have chased four times this World T20. Three times Kohli has been there when the winning runs were hit with scores of 36*, 57* and 72*. The fourth time, by the time he fell he had practically ended the match with his 54. Why? Why is it him again and again and again?

"Is that a valid question?" he says, before laughing, and then responding. "I think anyone in the world does the same things. Cricket is played more between your ears than your technique. If you can mentally be strong then you can tell yourself to stay on the wicket.

"Today, till about 20 runs, I didn't hit a boundary. It's about staying patient and staying calm and not thinking about how many runs or balls are remaining. It is important to back yourself which I think everybody does with time. Once you start scoring runs you start believing in yourself more. That's something I try to do and try to keep myself in that zone. There is no secret. Everyone wants to do well, everyone wants to score."

Which is what the point is. Everyone wants to, but he is able to, much more than many others are. Like tonight, when there was an able supporting cast. And there was King Kohli.

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Sammy defends wait-and-watch approach

Was it the rain? Or was it Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels? West Indies needed 81 to win from 37 balls with six wickets remaining when a hailstorm ended the first semi-final of the World T20, leaving Sri Lanka winners by 27 runs by the Duckworth-Lewis method. Gayle made 3 off 13, and Samuels was unbeaten on 18 off 29 when the rain came down.

Darren Sammy said it was disappointing to go out under the rain rule, and refused to answer when he was asked whether West Indies could afford Gayle and Samuels taking as much time as they did. When he was asked a related question about the high number of dot balls faced by Gayle and Samuels, Sammy admitted that both had not been able to deliver in this tournament, but said that both had performed in the past.

"When you lose a cricket game, people tend to point out all different areas where that should have happened, this should have happened," Sammy said. "But I am sure if you look at all the games we have played, there are more than 27 dots [25, between Gayle and Samuels].

"Probably 50-something dots. It's not ideal for Twenty20 but we've developed a formula in which that works for us. We know we are a boundary-hitting team. We know we have got to improve in rotating the strike but if you look at the way Gayle plays, he normally gives himself some time to get used to the wicket and catch up in the end. But the thing is, in this tournament he has not carried.

	I guess the Almighty wants them to leave on a high, so I guess they have one more game to try and win a World Cup and leave on a high Darren Sammy on Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene

"Marlon has not been batting well for us. It is one area - we always tell him, whatever rate you walk into, you try to keep it at that or increase it. Yes, we could say Marlon has not had the best of tournaments but he is one of our better batsmen and in the last World Cup (in 2012), he was the star for us. People have a few dips in form."

West Indies began with 17 runs off the opening over but scored only 13 off the next five of the fielding restrictions. Sammy and Dwayne Bravo had catapulted them home against Australia in a tense chase and also nearly doubled the score against Pakistan in the last five overs. The captain pointed to that and said West Indies could have pulled it off again.

"Gayle and [Dwayne] Smith have a very clear idea of how they want to go and play. The first over, we were off to a flyer but they brought on the offspinner (Sachithra Senanayake) and (Lasith) Malinga who bowled really well at Gayle and Smith. We were again behind the eight-ball and just when Bravo looked like picking it up like he did in the last game, he got out but we still had the belief that we could get 12 runs an over in the last six. I guess we have been doing that in this tournament. It is just disappointing but there is nothing we could do about it."

Sammy praised Sri Lanka for their display and said the rain gods had intervened because they wanted Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, both of whom will be retiring from T20 internationals at the end of the tournament, to win a world limited-overs title after four losses in finals in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012.

"Disappointing to come out of the tournament like this but credit to Sri Lanka. They won the toss, batted first. Probably they knew that some (bad) weather was around. But we have had a good run in this tournament, it is just sad that we got knocked out by the D/L system. But that's life. You move on and we will start planning for the next T20 World Cup.

"I took it like 'you know what, we have won a World Cup'. We are a praying team, we know God normally answers our prayers but today, I guess two gentlemen who have played for Sri Lanka, given a lot not only to Sri Lanka cricket but cricket on the whole, I guess the Almighty wants them to leave on a high, so I guess they have one more game to try and win a World Cup and leave on a high. Probably that's the reason why God put a hand in this match. I am sure I will have another shot at playing the T20 World Cup and we are looking forward to winning it again in the near future."

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Sri Lanka thrive before the storm

Before the hail, lightning, gust and rain, it was Sri Lanka who were bossing it at the Shere Bangla National Stadium. Their fielding, bowling and decision-making pushed West Indies on the back foot for 13.5 overs of the chase.

Dinesh Chandimal's decision not to play in the semi-final can be seen as a defensive move, especially coming from the team's appointed captain himself. But it was daring of the man not to play, and let the winning combination stick. And it worked, with his replacement Lahiru Thirimanne hitting a crucial 44.

It was only fitting for Angelo Mathews, the only Sri Lanka player to have played all 17 games of a long stay in Bangladesh, to play a major role in taking them a stage they would have targeted when they landed in Bangladesh. And he was quick to praise Chandimal for stepping aside for the team's benefit, a rare occurrence but one that made complete sense.

"It was a collective decision," Mathews said. "The selectors, management and Chandimal [decided]. We have to do what is best for the team all the time, regardless of who you are. I think he opted out because he wanted the best XI on the park. So I think it was a great and brave decision."

For the second game running, Sri Lanka has showed the importance of bowling tight and backing it up with strong fielding. They have been doing it in Bangladesh since January 27, when they started their long sojourn in the country. They have been beaten the home side 1-0, 2-0 and 3-0 in the Tests, T20s and ODIs respectively as well as winning the Asia Cup. But despite playing 17 matches so far, Sri Lanka's fielding standards have hardly dropped and they have looked even better at the fag end of a very long tour.

Mathews praised the effort of his team-mates as well as the coaching staff for the unflagging levels. "It is all the hard work that the boys do. I think they have been managed pretty well. When you play the intensity every other day, it takes a lot out of you. You need to manage yourself and still work really hard.

"Fitness, fielding and skills, we were consistent in the last couple of months in these areas. It will be ideal to win the title and go back home."

After Sri Lanka posted 160 for 6, Dwayne Smith began with a bang, caning Nuwan Kulasekara for 17 runs in the first over. On cue, Sri Lanka started to bowl better lengths, drying up the runs. By the time Chris Gayle was put out of his misery in the fifth over by Lasith Malinga, Sri Lanka had put a foot on the door that had started to slam on them. Smith was gone in the same over, and from then on, the fielding came to the fore.

West Indies are generally not the most athletic side between the wickets, preferring to dealing more in big shots. So it was important that the boundaries were cut off, and it started with Tillakaratne Dilshan in the eighth over when he slid to save a boundary, and repeated it in the 10th over. Apart from these two, there were several other mini-stops and slides that cut off whatever the West Indies were trying to add.

Mathews said it was important to pick up wickets when they got wind, quite literally, of rain nearing Mirpur. It prompted Malinga to bowl more in the first six overs, instead of keeping most of his quota for the death.

"After the first half, we heard there might be bit of rain. We just had to keep them tight because they have some big hitters who can't be stopped if they got going.

"We had to take wickets to push them back. Lasith came to bowl in the first six overs which he doesn't do normally, but we needed our best bowler to come and take wickets"

Sri Lanka could have been expected to be tired against New Zealand in their last group game and in the semi-final, but they sprung up at the right time and look on the way to a perfect ending to their stay in Bangladesh.

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Why Jaipur, Raipur and Dharamsala missed out

The major talking points of the schedule of the India leg of the IPL were the omission of Raipur and Jaipur from the list of host cities, and Ranchi having been preferred over Kochi as Chennai Super Kings' second home. The IPL authorities have said that the changes were made due to lack of security assurances from some of the state governments.

Jaipur missed out because of the inability of the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) to acquire requisite state government clearances. "We have not got the No-Objection Certification (NOC) from them," IPL chairman Ranjib Biswal said. It has been understood that the court-appointed BCCI-IPL president Sunil Gavaskar has extended the deadline for all the shortlisted IPL venues to provide NOC from their respective police authorities by Wednesday (April 2).

While RCA officiating secretary KK Sharma was unavailable for a comment, a RCA insider revealed it was a win-win situation for all stakeholders. "The state association is in a mess. Election results are held by the court. The BCCI is against the RCA. And even the team owners were not so keen on Jaipur as their first choice, so everyone is happy," said the insider. This will be the second time Ahmedabad will feature as the home venue for Rajasthan Royals, after hosting four Royals home matches in 2010.

Although no one from Royals was available for an on-record comment, it is understood that the franchise was not interested in Jaipur due to the various on-going controversies in the RCA. Even last year the franchise was kept on edge till a last-minute turnaround by the Rajasthan Sports Council allowed the Royals to play at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur which had been locked out earlier. "Ahmedabad has three-times bigger capacity, has three times less hassles and more sponsors are available for the franchise," a former RCA official said.

There had been few problems in Raipur last year, when two of Delhi Daredevils' home games were held at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium. ESPNcricinfo understands that the franchise had requested to host two more matches this year, following the overwhelming response for both matches. Biswal said Raipur missed out since it was "not necessary to have so many venues" this season.

Like Raipur, Dharamsala, the picturesque venue in Himachal Pradesh that had emerged as Punjab's second home venue over the years, does not find a slot in this season's schedule. The reason is the same as Jaipur's. "Despite writing to the relevant police authorities twice and a HPCA representative meeting them in person for providing the requisite security cover for IPL games, they just didn't even bother to respond - either in affirmative or negative," said Vishal Marwaha, secretary of Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association. "This just shows that the state government just didn't want IPL matches to be played in Himachal."

As a result, Kings XI will play two of their home games in Cuttack, the home city of IPL chairman Biswal. According to Mohit Burman, a co-owner at Kings XI Punjab, the franchise had asked for Ahmedabad as the first alternative. "They had consulted us and even if Cuttack was not our preference we are happy," Burman said.

The Chennai Super Kings will also play two of their home games outside the city they are based in, hosting them in Ranchi - the hometown of India and Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni. Super Kings had received tremendous response for their 2013 Champions League Twenty20 games in Ranchi. As a result, despite Kerala Cricket Association TC Mathew having announced that Kochi was set to host "a couple of CSK home matches", Ranchi got the nod of the IPL authorities.

It is understood that during their meeting with the IPL officials in Chennai in February had been asked to submit their shortlist of alternate venues other than their home grounds. And the BCCI insiders said they have done their best to accommodate most of their requests.

"It's extremely impossible to adhere to each and everyone's preference," an official said. "Without going into the specifics of an individual venue, I would say that considering the logistical challenges and the operational considerations, we have drawn a schedule that would suit virtually everyone. We have to factor in kit and crew movements, also the fact that every team has to get at least one game in a weekend double header."

The IPL starts on April 16 in the UAE, where 20 matches will be played, and shifts to India on May 2 with the final scheduled for June 1 in Mumbai.

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Guts key to spin bowling - Ashwin

R Ashwin believes the "guts" shown by the Indian spinners to flight the ball and overcome the fear of being hit in T20s has been the major factor for India's success

Manjrekar: Ashwin, Mishra's skills have helped India

A legspinner tossing the ball high, giving it a rip with his wrist to lure the batsman out before getting it to dip, grip, turn and earning a stumping. An offspinner tossing the ball high, giving it a tweak with his fingers to draw the batsman forward, getting it to drift, grip, turn and earning an outside edge to slip. These are not dismissals you normally associate with Twenty20 cricket. But these are just two instances of what Amit Mishra and R Ashwin have been able to achieve in this World T20.

Both spinners have had principal roles to play in each of India's four successive victories in the group stage. On three of those occasions, they have not had the weight of runs backing them, as India relied on their preferred strategy of chasing. All three of those matches - against Pakistan, West Indies and Bangladesh - were 'live' ones, with qualification for the knockouts dependent on their results. Mishra was the Man of the Match against Pakistan and West Indies; Ashwin got the award against Bangladesh.

Two subcontinent sides supposedly accustomed to playing spin, and a third which has backed itself to hit the big shots under pressure, and have done so in crunch matches against Pakistan and Australia. None of them managed even 140 against the Indians.

The conditions have been spinner-friendly in Bangladesh, particularly so in Dhaka. MS Dhoni has said it has been one of the main reasons why the Indian slow bowlers have done so well. Ravindra Jadeja hasn't been among them, though. It is not really his style to lure batsmen with flight and guile.

But no matter how much the conditions support you, it takes tremendous heart for a spinner to bowl slow when the temptation is to fire it in quick. To overcome the ever-present fear of getting hit in T20 and toss the ball up. For one spinner to do it in a single T20 is itself remarkable. For two in the same XI to do it over the course of a world tournament with so much control is incredible. Ashwin, and particularly Mishra's, biggest achievement this World T20 has been to consistently beat this fear, and do so without the security of a big total to defend every time it mattered.

This absence of fear, or presence of "guts", over four matches is what South Africa will be up against. It was a term Ashwin used several times ahead of India's semi-final clash. "In terms of variation of pace, you need a lot of guts," Ashwin said. "If you're at the top of your game, you can land the ball exactly where you want it to land.

But apart from that, to actually slow the ball down when the batsman's going after you is a key component of this particular game, for which you need quite a lot of guts. And if you've gone for a six, it requires even more guts to come back the next ball. Those are the key components of a winning game, as far as I'm concerned."

It tells you a lot about a spinner's state of mind when he says the ball is behaving as he wills it. "In the last two or three months, I feel that I'm probably at the top of my bowling game," Ashwin said. "When I reach that phase, I pretty much don't practice at all. That's a phase I'm in right now. The ball is landing exactly where I want."

South Africa will have to counter Mishra and Ashwin on a helpful and unfamiliar surface - they have been playing in Chittagong so far - and that too in a knockout. Bowlers have not had to contend with heavy dew turning the ball into soap in Dhaka, like it did so often in Chittagong.

South Africa have probably the most nerveless innovator among current limited-overs batsmen in AB de Villiers, and they will need to keep calm when it comes to taking on spin. South Africa also have the Super 10 stage's leading wicket-taker in Imran Tahir, who's managed 11 wickets in less helpful conditions with his mix of quick sliders and googlies.

He's had a well-publicised visit from Shane Warne in the Mirpur nets. Will he stick to what has worked for him in Chittagong, or will he use more flight and turn like the Indians have? Whatever method he uses, Ashwin said it would again come down to the same word - guts.

"When it comes to international cricket, there's a very small margin between the quality of spinners. Everybody's bound to have a certain amount of quality in them. It's all about the mental make-up of the spinner and the amount of guts he has in that particular scenario," Ashwin said. "It'll be handling pressure that makes the difference, because Imran Tahir has been in top form. And I expect (Aaron) Phangiso to play. When that happens, you're pretty much evened out on the amount of spinners both teams will play. It comes down to how well your spinners handle it."

Apart from pressure, the spinners might also have to deal with a wet outfield, as rain is expected around the time of the match on Friday. The last time rain came down in an India game in a World T20, against Australia in 2012 in Colombo, it contributed to their exit from the tournament, as their three spinners found it difficult to grip the ball. Even Mishra and Ashwin, for all their heart, could struggle if it rains again.

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Windies firepower gives them the edge

Sri Lanka and West Indies won three matches and lost one each in the group stages of the World Twenty20, and their overall batting and bowling stats are fairly similar. West Indies have the marginally better batting numbers, with a slightly higher scoring rate and average, while Sri Lanka have a marginally better bowling average. Both teams have taken exactly 31 wickets, which shows there's little to separate the two teams.

Both teams have had one match in which they leaked more than 170 runs - West Indies conceded 178 against Australia (but still managed to win) while Sri Lanka went for 190 against England. Both have also had a couple of excellent bowling performances: Sri Lanka shot out Netherlands for 39 and New Zealand for 60, while West Indies bowled out Bangladesh for 98 and Pakistan for 82.

In terms of scoring patterns, though, there is some difference. West Indies have relied heavily on boundaries: they've struck almost twice as many sixes as Sri Lanka, and have scored almost 66% of their runs in fours and sixes. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, have played about 15% fewer dot balls than West Indies.

Overall stats for SL and WI in the World T20 2014

	Batting			Bowling
	Runs scored	Average	Run rate	Wkts taken	Average	Econ rate
Sri Lanka	513	23.31	7.97	31	14.48	6.87
West Indies	645	26.87	8.09	31	15.74	6.36

How SL and WI have scored their runs

Team	1s/ 2s/ 3s	Dot-ball %	4s/ 6s	Boundary %
Sri Lanka	134/ 36/ 0	40.26	49/ 14	57.61
West Indies	136/ 32/ 1	47.29	57/ 27	65.77

The bowling comparison

Spin has played a prominent role in the campaigns of both teams so far. West Indies have had Samuel Badree at the start of the innings, and Sunil Narine through the middle and end overs, while Sachitra Senanayake and Ajantha Mendis were Sri Lanka's spin options through much of the tournament, before Rangana Herath made his tournament debut against New Zealand and completely blew them away with figures of 5 for 3.

Overall, West Indies have been more reliant on their spinners: they've bowled more overs than the seamers, and have accounted for 19 of their 31 wickets. Badree is the third-highest wicket-taker of the tournament, while Narine's economy rate of 4.50 is second only Bhuvneshwar Kumar's, among bowlers who have bowled at least 10 overs in the tournament. And then there has been Krishmar Santokie, the unsung hero for West Indies: no one's talked much about him, but he has taken six wickets at an average of 13.83 and an economy rate of 5.59. (Click here for West Indies' batting and bowling averages in the tournament.)

For Sri Lanka, Nuwan Kulasekara has been superb, taking six wickets at 11.67 and an economy rate of 5.83, but Lasith Malinga has had a relatively quiet tournament, taking three wickets in 12 overs. (Click here for Sri Lanka's batting and bowling averages in the tournament.)

Pace and spin stats for SL and WI

	Spin				Pace
	Overs	Wkts	Average	Econ rate	Overs	Wkts	Average	Econ rate
Sri Lanka	25.0	13	12.76	6.64	40.2	13	21.07	6.79
West Indies	41.4	19	12.31	5.61	35.0	12	20.91	7.17

In terms of their bowling performances in different stages of an innings, both Sri Lanka and West Indies have been superb during the Powerplay overs, taking plenty of wickets and restricting the runs. Both teams have taken 11 wickets in the first six overs - the most by any team in the tournament - though Sri Lanka have a slightly better economy rate. There's little to choose between their stats in the middle overs too, but in the last five, West Indies have a better economy rate. Sri Lanka have conceded 9.55 per over in the last five, thanks to their games against England and South Africa, when they went for 48 off 26 balls and 45 off 30 in the last five overs.

WI and SL with the ball so far in the tournament

	First 6 overs		6.1 to 15 overs		Last 5 overs
	Average	Econ rate	Average	Econ rate	Average	Econ rate
Sri Lanka	10.45	4.79	21.81	7.61	10.44	9.55
West Indies	11.90	5.45	25.60	7.11	10.10	6.06

West Indies' last five overs blitz

As mentioned earlier, West Indies have been strong boundary hitters in the tournament, and they've been especially destructive in the last five overs of their innings. Their run rate in the last five is 12.55, a period during which they've scored 247 runs in 118 balls. Darren Sammy alone has caused immeasurable damage to the opposition bowling figures during this period, scoring 99 off 39 balls during this period, at a staggering run rate of 15.23 per over. Dwayne Bravo hasn't done badly either, scoring 54 from 24. Sri Lanka's run rate of 9.83 in the last five isn't too bad (141 runs from 86 balls), but this is clearly a period that has belonged to West Indies.

Sri Lanka's strength has been more in the middle overs, when they've scored at a brisk pace without losing too many wickets. Mahela Jayawardene has been at the forefront in this aspect, scoring 74 off 50 balls during this period (run rate 8.88) and getting out just once.

WI and SL scoring patterns in the tournament so far

	First 6 overs		6.1 to 15 overs		Last 5 overs
Team	Average	Run rate	Average	Run rate	Average	Run rate
Sri Lanka	24.00	7.30	40.80	7.55	14.10	9.83
West Indies	53.33	6.66	21.63	6.61	24.70	12.55

The Mirpur factor

West Indies also have the advantage of having played all their matches in Mirpur - which is the venue for the semi-final - while Sri Lanka have played in Chittagong. However, conditions in Mirpur have favoured spin more than in Chittagong, which should suit Sri Lanka as well: spinners have bowled twice as many overs in Mirpur compared to Chittagong in the main stage of the tournament, and achieved better economy rates. (Click here for the stats of spinners at the two venues, and here for the pace bowlers' numbers.)

The head-to-head history

Sri Lanka and West Indies have played five Twenty20 internationals so far, all of them in the World Twenty20. While Sri Lanka won the first four, West Indies beat them in the big game, the final of the 2012 edition, by 36 runs. Four of the five matches between them have been won by the team batting first.

In matches between these two teams, Jayawardene has been the top batsman, scoring 202 runs at a strike rate of 133.77; Tillakaratne Dilshan isn't far behind in terms of aggregate, scoring 187 at a strike rate touching 160. West Indies' batsmen have been relatively quiet, with Chris Gayle scoring only 73 in four innings.

Among the bowlers, Mendis has stunning stats: in 20 overs he has figures of 13 for 82, an average of 6.30 and an economy rate of 4.10. Malinga, though, has leaked almost 9.50 runs per over against West Indies. Narine has played only two games against Sri Lanka, but has been his usual self, taking 3 for 32 from 7.4 overs.

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India wrap up 2016 berth with narrow win

India Women 106 for 7 (Mithali Raj 39, Sania Khan 3-15) beat Pakistan Women 100 for 9 (Nahida Khan 26, Nida Dar 24*, Soniya Dabir 3-14) by 6 runs
Scorecard

India Women booked a place in the 2016 Women's World T20 with a narrow win over Pakistan Women in the qualification play-off in Sylhet. Six teams - the four semifinalists and the two winners of the play-off games - qualify directly for the next edition of the tournament, while the other teams go into a separate qualifying tournament.

Chasing 107, Pakistan lost wickets regularly, three of them to medium-pacer Soniya Dabir, but useful knocks from their No. 3 Nahida Khan and No. 9 Nida Dar had kept them in the hunt. At the start of the final over, Pakistan needed 17 to win with two wickets in hand and Nida at the crease on 19. Shubhlakshmi Sharma conceded a four to Batool Fatima second ball of the over, and a two and a leg-bye of the next two balls to leave Pakistan needing nine off the last two. Fatima, however, was run-out off the penultimate ball and Nida only managed a single off the last ball, leaving India winners by six runs.

Having chosen to bat, India's top three made decent starts but nobody kicked on to make a big score as the rest of the batting collapsed. Mithali Raj hung around to make 39 and was sixth out, off the penultimate ball of the innings, as India lost their way, going from 64 for 1 to 106 for 7. Medium-pacer Sania Khan was Pakistan's most successful bowler, with three wickets.

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